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Confirmed: Bartz Out As Yahoo CEO

Details are very sparse, but All Things Digital is reporting that Carol Bartz’s rocky tenure as Yahoo CEO has ended.

All Things Digital reports that current CFO Tim Morse will take over the CEO spot on an interim basis.

Speculation raged earlier this summer that Bartz’ days were numbered when Yahoo announced weak Q2 financials.

She’ll be remembered for brokering the Yahoo-Microsoft search and ads deal that effectively put Yahoo out of the search engine business (aside from display; Yahoo’s search results have been powered fully by Microsoft).

We’ll have more on this as information becomes available.

Postscript: Yahoo has now confirmed Bartz’ departure. The company has issued a news release saying that Yahoo’s Board of Directors removed her from the position, and appointed Morse as her interim replacement, effective immediately. There’s also a new, six-person Executive Leadership Council that will help Morse with day-to-day management and contribute to “a comprehensive strategic review that the Board has initiated to position the Company for future growth.”

Roy Bostock, Chairman of the Yahoo! Board, said, “The Board sees enormous growth opportunities on which Yahoo! can capitalize, and our primary objective is to leverage the Company’s leadership and current business assets and platforms to execute against these opportunities. We have talented teams and tremendous resources behind them and intend to return the Company to a path of robust growth and industry-leading innovation. We are committed to exploring and evaluating possibilities and opportunities that will put Yahoo! on a trajectory for growth and innovation and deliver value to shareholders.”

On a related note, Glassdoor — a site where employees can share information and opinions about companies anonymously — says Bartz’ approval rating was at 33% for the 3rd quarter of 2011, and had dropped as low as 24% during Q2 (based on those employees who chose to speak out on the site).

For more background on Bartz’ tenure at Yahoo, see the related articles listed below.

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Matt McGee is the Editor-In-Chief of Search Engine Land and Marketing Land. His news career includes time spent in TV, radio, and print journalism. After leaving traditional media in the mid-1990s, he began developing and marketing websites and continued to provide consulting services for more than 15 years. His SEO and social media clients ranged from mom-and-pop small businesses to one of the Top 5 online retailers. Matt is a longtime speaker at marketing events around the U.S., including keynote and panelist roles. He can be found on Twitter at @MattMcGee. You can read Matt's disclosures on his personal blog. You can reach Matt via email using our Contact page.